Brown rice is
unmilled or partly milled rice, a kind of whole grain.
It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier than white rice,
and becomes rancid more quickly. Any rice, including
sticky rice, long-grain rice, or short-grain rice, may
be eaten as brown rice.

In much of Asia, brown
rice (Chinese: Hanyu Pinyin: caomi; Japanese: genmai) is associated with poverty and
wartime shortages, and in the past was rarely eaten
except by the sick, the elderly and as a cure for
constipation. This traditionally looked-down-upon kind
of rice is now more expensive than common white rice,
partly due to its low consumption, difficulty of storage
and transport, and higher nutritional
value.

Role in traditional Chinese
medicine
In the Yellow Emperor's Classic of
Internal Medicine, the oldest-known book of traditional
Chinese medicine and the foundation of the macrobiotic
diet, the first remedy for disease is a ten-day period
during which the patient eats only rice. Traditional
medicine workers treated illness first by diet, usually
prescribing a regime of rice gruel (short-grain brown
rice) for ten days. If this treatment was not
successful, then the healer used the roots and leaves of
medicinal plants to, in their view, harmonize the
person's energies. Acupuncture and moxibustion were
employed only as a last resort. The Classic says that if
the emotions and the will of the patient are stable,
then cereals alone can effect a cure. In particular,
rice is mentioned as a vital and harmonious
food.

Brown rice and white rice
Brown
rice and white rice have similar amounts of calories,
carbohydrates, fat and protein. The difference between
the two lies in processing and nutritional content. If
the outermost layer of a grain of rice (the husk) is
removed, the result is brown rice. If the husk and the
bran layer underneath are removed, the result is white
rice. Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in
this removal and the subsequent polishing process.
Several of these missing nutrients, such as B1, B3, and
iron are then added back into the white rice making it
"enriched." One mineral that is not added back into
white rice is magnesium; one cup of cooked long grain
brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of
white rice contains 19 mg.
When the bran layer is
removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also
removed. A recent study has shown that rice bran oil may
help lower LDL
cholesterol.

Preparation
To prepare
brown rice, use 1.5 cups of water for each cup of brown
rice, and salt to taste. Bring salted water to a boil,
and stir in rice. Reduce heat to a minimal simmer, and
cook tightly covered for 35 minutes or until all water
has been absorbed into rice.

Use slightly more water
for sticky rice. Use slightly less water for fluffy,
separate rice in the American preferred style. It is
possible to substitute a salted broth for the salted
water for a different flavor.

A nutritionally
superior method of preparation known as GABA Rice or
GBR, developed during the United Nations Year of Rice,
may be used. This involves soaking washed brown rice for
20 hours in warm water (38 ?C or 100 ?F) prior to
cooking it. This process stimulates germination, which
activates various enzymes in the rice. By this method,
it is possible to obtain a more complete amino acid
profile, including GABA.